What is the "Pillow" business about?

[BAVD John]

Mentu,

Yep, the pillow will be your best friend for some time. Luckily for me I was able to wean myself from the pillow after about 2 weeks. I do remember in the hospital the pillow was on my chest much of the time so I could be ready to cluch it when needed. I still cough now but no longer need the pillow.

 

[hedgewick]

I was going to bring a portable DVD player to watch some fun movies to cheer me up but It suddenly seems like a bad idea. The laughing would make me feel worse.

 

[surferguy]

Been there, done that, got the pillow. Hugged it more than my wife for the first month.

 

[Freddie]

I was going to bring a portable DVD player to watch some fun movies to cheer me up but It suddenly seems like a bad idea. The laughing would make me feel worse.

You'll still be able to smile.....just make sure you bite your tongue so you don't laugh too hard

There is also the possibility that your ability to concentrate on a movie may be difficult due to the drugs JMO.

 

[terodac]

It will become your best friend, I remember wondering around the house with it all the time! Oh those were some long days, it has been a long journey for sure! Glad I have passed over the mountain! I did throw mine away, just reminded me of to much! Along, with that stupid breathing machine, could not wait to get rid of that! Good Luck! Anybody want to watch a really funny movie go see Hang Over! Oh my it was too funny!

 

[Gnusgal]

I feel gypped. I never got a pillow! Maybe because both of my open hearts were at children's hospitals (even though I was over 21 for both)? I got a quilt from Project Linus, though!

I did, however, have my own pillow that my mom got me. I sill to this day (7 years after VR) sleep hugging a pillow. Not because of pain. Just because I'm more comfortable that way.

 

[catwoman]

It will become your best friend, I remember wondering around the house with it all the time! Oh those were some long days, it has been a long journey for sure! Glad I have passed over the mountain! I did throw mine away, just reminded me of to much! Along, with that stupid breathing machine, could not wait to get rid of that! Good Luck! Anybody want to watch a really funny movie go see Hang Over! Oh my it was too funny!

I took mine to work with me when I went back at 7 weeks post-op. It was a real ice-breaker when I took it to a grocery a couple of days after leaving the hospital. Had to use one of those little scooters in the store, with a basket, so I put my Baylor heart pillow there. Quite a few people stopped to tell me they had also had OHS (all CABG) at Baylor.......

 

[CThrock]

I love my heart pillow we were friends for a long time. I had all the OHS staff sign it and have it on my bed as a blessed reminder. Hug your pillow with proud!!

I would of gladly give you one of mine Niki I had several... Sharing is Caring!!

 

[ponygirlmom]

The heart-shaped pillow I got at the hospital was too large and hard for me. I used.... a stuffed llama.

 

[KenG]

I was given a Teddy Bear called Sir Koff-a-Lot. It was designed with a flat back, which apparently made it work better as a coughing pillow. I was surprised, but I've developed very fond feelings for that bear, and both my wife and I have it as our cell phone wallpaper. Although I experienced very little post-surgical pain, the one exception was the first time I sneezed. I really needed to place the bear much higher on my chest for a sneeze than a cough, and that really hurt. I thought I had broken my rib (the pain was at the rib more than in the sternum) and continued whenever I coughed or sneezed for quite a while. Although I rarely used the Oxycodone I was given, I did use it after having a coughing spell. You should definitely use that pillow, bear, or whatever you are given (even a blanket or just hold your hands on your chest) whenever you cough.

 

[AgilityDog]

I got TWO pillows, made by the Baylor volunteers. Unfortunately, I don't have them anymore. After I got home, I left them on the bed one day, and Jet thought they would be great fun to disembowel. She's really lethal to stuffed toys, and she thought these were hers....besides, they smelled like Mommy (think puppies and shoes).

 

[catwoman]

The heart-shaped pillow I got at the hospital was too large and hard for me. I used.... a stuffed llama.

A friend had MVR at St. Luke's in Houston, and she bequeathed me her pillow. It was as hard as a rock.
Luckily, I got a pillow through the heart volunteer program at Baylor that was much more comfortable. I've seen the same pillow in other places. In fact, I think I saw one in LMN's "Stranger's Heart," in which a woman has a heart transplant, meets her donor heart's little daughter, falls in love with man who also had heart transplant (donor was same little girl's dad), and they get married.

I love movies showing people having had OHS. I try to determine whether the actors correctly depict the recovery of OHS. I thought "Stranger's Heart" did so pretty accurately.

Down to the heart pillow!

 

[Mentu]

I had no idea that a pillow was so important! I am finding it easy to imagine wanting to keep ones pillow close. Thank you all for the education or should I say "Pillow Talk".

 

[jorsarge]

Sneeze

Sneeze

The surprise sneeze was just that after surgery. I even used the kids soft toys to hold all in. Had my own litle pillow though most of the time very handy for driving about six weeks post op.

jorsarge

 

[sue943]

We were given a rolled up towel which was most effective, the nurses called it 'your baby'.

 

[Adrienne]

We were given a rolled up towel which was most effective, the nurses called it 'your baby'.

Same thing where I was. When I got home, my husband rigged up the same thing and attached elastic to put around my neck so it would be with me without my having to hold on to it every second.

 

[Smedders]

We were given a rolled up towel which was most effective, the nurses called it 'your baby'.

Me too. Held tight with surgical tape.

Though I got little contraption for explanding lung capacity with a little ball that goes up and down.

And a massive bag of drugs.

 

[Christina]

I must have missed something. Why do so many people mention their pillows?

Your heart pillow will be your best friend after surgery during an evil sneeze and coughing spell. Don't leave home without it!

 

[neil]

is this the pillow that was my bestist friend ever for 2 or 3 weeks after my op,

 

[Gnusgal]

Believe it or not, my last lead revision was actually more painful than my 2 OHSs. They went in through my ribs. My mom gave me a peanut shaped foam pillow for Christmas (few days after surgery). It turned out to be just the ticket. It stayed tucked under my arm for weeks. Students looked at me funny, but there was no way I was going anywhere without it. They called it my pink pickle. lol